Bay residents prefer bottles over tap water
Napier residents are still refusing to use water from their taps over health, safety and taste/smell concerns, more than one year on from chlorination of the city’s network, a survey shows.
In the Stuff poll, 42 per cent of the 361 respondents said they didn’t drink their tap water because of the taste or smell.
Another 17 per cent said they didn’t because they did not believe it to be safe, and 6 per cent said they didn’t because of a health issue.
Pirimai’s Kirsty Brewer said she had installed a filter at her house which removed chlorine from her water.
‘‘I don’t like the taste [or] smell but also worry about the longterm effects of ingesting chlorine.’’
Nineteen per cent of respondents said they did drink the water, and didn’t understand why so many complained of it. The extent of complaints about water clarity, odour and taste was revealed by Stuff in June.
Onekawa’s Ngaire Kemp said she got her drinking water from the house of her son, who had a filter.
‘‘We still have to shower, cook and wash our clothes in the council water. I have had itchy skin patches, and sometimes after putting some water in a small container, it is a pale brown colour and left overnight there is black residue on the bottom.’’
Christine McIntosh said she drove from Taradale to Hastings every week to stock up on de-chlorinated water. ‘‘I have no confidence in our Napier [City] Council officials or their announcements regarding the status of our water.’’
Jon Kingsford, the city council’s infrastructure director, said the council was still assessing possible locations for two de-chlorinated water stations approved in the council’s long-term plan.
Napier’s water met all criteria of the New Zealand Drinking Water Standard and was safe to drink, Kingsford said.